A beautiful day, with perfect temperatures, greeted the people of Wildomar for today's Breakfast with Santa. It was five dollars for an adult's breakfast, three dollars for kids, and five dollars for a pic with Santa. Breakfast included scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage, and orange juice, milk or coffee.
Part of the line to see Santa at about 10am.
This was a fundraising event cosponsored by the city and the Rotary Club. There were about 270 people that paid for breakfasts, which brought in about $1600.
Boy Scout Troop 332 was also represented, and they were selling hot chocolate, donuts, mistletoe and other decorations. You can still get some Troop 332 mistletoe at Dejong's Dairy... while supplies last that is. ☺
There were too many pictures to share, so I made video montage set to Deck The Halls. It gives you a good feel for the morning and runs about 6 mins long.
If you missed today's breakfast don't worry, next year's Breakfast with Santa is only about 365 days away. Mark your calendars now. You should also sign up for city email alerts, or get City by App for your smart phone.
Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and we are better throughout the year because we became children again during Christmas time.
― Laura Wilder
Wildomar Rap tip of the day: Remember that the best Christmas dinners are made by your grandmother. Not so much for the meal itself, but for the fact that she made it. If you still have a living grandma, be sure to give her a hug and tell her you love her.
Most of us don't really pay attention to city politics. Until I started going to the Wildomar City meetings back in Summer of 2013, I had no idea where the City Hall even was located. Before moving to W'mar, I had lived in San Clemente for eons, and only saw one city council meeting, and that was on public access cable. To this day I couldn't tell you where their city hall is.
That is normal for most residents in a city. If a person doesn't have an issue that needs city hall's involvement, most people just go about their merry way.
With that said, many people don't know how a mayor is chosen in a small town. As a child, I grew up with the TV news always talking about LA Mayor Tom Bradley. I knew his name, but not the name of the mayor where I lived. In a lot of cities/towns a specific person is chosen as mayor. The cities of Riverside and San Bernardino choose mayors through a specific election.
Fun fact. When I was 12, my step mother ran for mayor of San Bernardino... she missed it by that much.
Smaller cities, like Wildomar, often appoint a mayor from among the elected city council members. It's mostly a ceremonial position.
In Wildomar, the Mayor and MPT (Mayor Pro Tem) set the agenda. They do that the Wednesday prior to the council meeting. The Mayor also has the gavel and conducts the city council meetings.
The pay for each Wildomar city council member stands at $300 per month. The mayor gets no additional pay.
Many cities in our area rotate the title of Mayor and MPT. The exception is Menifee, their residents vote for just Mayor (elected at large).
Lake Elsinore, Canyon Lake, Murrieta, Temecula and Wildomar all rotate the title. Usually the councilmember who has the Mayor Pro tem title will rotate and be the Mayor in the next year. I say "usually" as it is not a rule. And the title doesn't not have to rotate, not a rule either.
There is a city in California named Reedly, population of about 25,000, that put in an automatic rotation scheme for their Mayor and MPT back in 2011. (Here's a link to their minutes covering it)
I got Bridgette Moore's take on it (recently selected Mayor of Wildomar for 2016).
I received one comment that "Ben termed out" and I explained that Ben could have been Mayor again, if the other 4 all agreed to that.
So far in our 7 year history, I was the only one that didn't rotate the next year to Mayor and I chose that. So in 2008, I was Pro Tem and then in 2009 I "should" have rotated to Mayor but I felt I wasn't ready so we voted for Scott Farnam to be Mayor and I had another term as Pro Tem. Then in 2010, I was Mayor but then not again until 2016.
My personal opinion is, I like that we rotate. Each councilmember has a different style that can be utilized during their year. For the residents, if they do not particularly like that year's current Mayor, it'll change soon!
As you can probably guess, when the council doesn't choose the Mayor Pro Tem for Mayor and then chooses another councilmember, problems can arise. Fortunately for Wildomar, we haven't had those issues.
A list of all the Mayors and MPTs that have served Wildomar since incorporation.
2008 Mayor Bob Cashman, MPT Bridgette Moore
2009 Mayor Scott Farnam, MPT Bridgette Moore
2010 Mayor Bridgette Moore, MPT Marsha Swanson
2011 Mayor Marsha Swanson, MPT Ben Benoit
2012 Mayor Ben Benoit, MPT Tim Walker
2013 Mayor Tim Walker, MPT Marsha Swanson
2014 Mayor Marsha Swanson, MPT Ben Benoit
2015 Mayor Ben Benoit, MPT Bridgette Moore
2016 Mayor Bridgette Moore, MPT Tim Walker
From the city website:
The City Council is made up of five members elected at-large by the citizens to serve as the law-making and policy-setting body of the municipality. The Council appoints a City Manager to direct administrative affairs and a City Attorney to be the legal advisor for the City.
The City Council appoints a Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem each December, with the effective date of appointment being January 1 of the following year. They will serve as Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem for the entire calendar year, from January 1 through December 31.
Council Members are elected to a four-year term of office with staggered terms. This means at one election there will be three Council Members elected, and the next election there will be two Council Members elected. Elections are held in November of even-numbered years.
From my observation, being the mayor is a lot more work than a regular city council member. I came in on the final months of Tim Walker's time as mayor, and have seen Marsha Swanson and Ben Benoit in that position. They've all shown great dedication to the post. It'll be fun to watch how Bridgette Moore does things.
We know that she'll be keen on parks issues and events, but there are many weighty issues that will be on the agenda in 2016 that she'll be ready for too.
The one thing that I've observed about her is that she knows what she's talking about, on pretty much each and every issue/topic in Wildomar. She takes her position seriously, and is always eager to meet with residents of Wildomar.
The meeting started with Mayor Benoit asking for a moment of silence for those that were victims of the terrorist attack in San Bernardino.
Presentations
Cat Lara was recognized for her recent Girl Scout Gold Award project. The project was installing recycling cans at Marna O'Brien and Windsong parks. There is a ribbon cutting at Marna O'Brien park at 1pm this Saturday.
Mayor Benoit, Cat Lara, Mayor Pro-Tem Bridgette Moore.
Public speakers on non agenda items
• Jonathan Peterson spoke about the problem of a neighbor that smokes so much marijuana on daily basis that the smoke invades his home and gives his wife headaches.
• Kristan Lloyd spoke about Wildomar Historical Society and the Bingo fundraiser to be held at the Elks Lodge on Sunday January 24th.
• Ken Mayes asked for his own moment of silence for all the victims of US foreign policy (to which Miss Miller shouted out "Amen!"). He also mentioned the canceled Measure Z committee meeting and various financial figures he found wanting.
• Miss Miller, sans her usual chapeau, spoke about chemtrails and that she "read an article online about them." She told us that the chemtrails were there so that people can go shopping and that the Rose Parade can go on. She also asked the council to go online and "find people that we can write" then said that "Boxer and Feinstein, that's a dead loss." Hey, looks like there are a few neurons still firing in that frontal lobe of hers after all. Then she went into song and ended by thanking Ken Mayes "for that comment on America's suck ass political policies." (That was just her opening act of the night)
I know that I said I'd never upload another video of her, but who am I to stand in the way of those that find her entertaining. I have to apologize for not being able to share her other time at the podium. The file was corrupt. She said something about a "changing the kazoo to whatever you want to do"... at least that's what I put in my notes.
•
• John Garrett spoke about lighting issues and glare bombs and asked that there be a public outreach on the city's lighting policies.
• George Taylor thanked Les Chapman and the staff for the efforts in the recent sandbag event.
Usually the consent calendar is voted on as a block. The idea is that the items are routine and only need a rubber stamp. Sometimes a council member, or member of the public, wants to talk about one of those items and so it gets "pulled" and talked about.
That happen on several items.
• Ken Mayes, 1.6 and 1.7, quoted Wildomar Rap quoting Planning Commission Chairman Stan Smith about passive parks almost 2 years ago.
• George Taylor 1.6 spoke about Bundy Canyon Road
• 1.7 and 1.14 Miss Miller complained that she only had three minutes for two items. Then spoke of atrocities regarding something or another, but I zoned out... even when reviewing the video for this blog. She did get me to laugh when she changed the name of Villa Sienna Apartments to Villain. She then had to have the microphone shut off.
• Kristan Lloyd, 1.9, brought up the Historical Society. Spoke about small treasures/artifacts that may be buried on the old Brown property and hopes the developer will allow a bit of sifting to look for them.
• Gina Castanon, 1.7 and 1.9, didn't like that extensions were on the consent calendar. That the public should be heard before such a vote.
She then looked at me and said, "Some people don't like to hear the history [of Wildomar]."
What is with people that intentionally say such easily disprovable things? Gina, I love hearing the stories about olden times. I had a great breakfast with Stan Smith once and was mesmerized by the history he shared with me.
Listening to stories, has nothing to do with the teller of the stories thinking she is more important than any other person in town. Feel free to just have a normal conversation with me some time. I'm easy to find.
Mayor Benoit responded to Gina Castanon "As far as the agenda. The items on then agenda tonight are not an approval, but just a receive and file to let us know what the planning commission did. The council's actions tonight are just to be notified that the action has taken place. That's why it's not an agenda item, it's just a receive and file." Seen in the video above.
Council Member Bob Cashman asked to pull several agenda items. His big concern was that projects approved before we were a city may not be up to snuff. "In nine years things change in a community."
In the end, all the pulled items were passed by a 5-0 vote. Sort of why they were in the consent calendar to begin with.
3.1 Street Light Conversion
Tyler Masters of WRCOG gave a presentation to the council.
In short this is about the city taking over the light poles from the SCE. It appears to be a good long term deal for the city. Saving up to 50% on the cost of lighting.
Unfortunately my video failed on that file so the only thing I can report of the 30 plus minutes is Council member Marsha Swanson's comment. "We aren't buying anything tonight."
This is a just a step in a detailed process, but a step in a good direction. More about this in the future.
3.2 Franchise Agreement with CR&R
FISCAL IMPACT:
The approval of this Fourth Amendment will not have any fiscal impact on the City. If approved, CR&R will be requesting that the City Council approve a rate increase to compensate CR&R for the additional organic waste recycling services it will be providing. The rate increase will be subject to Proposition 218 notice and hearing requirements. Any such rate increase may impact the City as a customer of CR&R.
This is an interesting item. In short, it's a prelude to a coming raise in the rates we are all going to be paying someday, thanks to the misguided souls up in Sacramento.
It comes down to a state mandate that we have a policy in place (dealing with organic waste) by the first of the year to be in compliance with the state (AB 1826).
This specific agenda item is about businesses in the city that generate 8 cubic yards of “organic waste” (defined
as “food waste, green waste, landscape and pruning waste, nonhazardous wood waste,
and food-soiled paper waste that is mixed in with food waste”).
However, within five years all businesses that generate over 2 cubic yards will get stung by this.
The real target that Sacramento has in its sites, is the general public. Eventually, every homeowner will be part of this.
I heard the CR&R guys talking about an increase of $2 per month to cover it. Thing is, in my family, we don't put any food waste in the garbage. What the dogs don't eat goes into a compost pile in the backyard. At the end of a year's time it still isn't more than a few gallons.
Marsha Swanson didn't like the vagueness of the language, that made it seem as if she voted for this it would obligate a future yes vote on rate increases.
Her comments begin at the 6:25 mark of the video.
• I'm still a real confused what we're actually voting on. It says "there's no fiscal impact." Yet, you said that there would be in the future by approving this. I've been through [the new CR&R plant] it's beautiful, I think it's a great idea. I don't know that I think it's fair to pass that onto our residents, it is an increase that everyone will be paying. If voting yes on this tonight means I'm saying "yes, we'll look at a fee increase" I can't move forward on this one.
Mayor Benoit and Mayor Pro-Tem Moore had good points, as City Attorney Thomas Jex added needed info in key spots.
There were also many lively comments by Tim Walker.
There are just too many details for me to try and recap. Below is a 36 minute video of the discussion and City Manager Gary Nordquist spells it all out in the first six minutes, followed by council comments and discussion.
This item was not approved by a 3-2 vote. (Ayes being Benoit and Moore, nays being Swanson, Walker and Cashman.) It'll be coming back to the council shortly.
3.4 Appointment of Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem for 2016 This was mostly ceremonial as the position of mayor is rotated among the various council members.
Bridgette Moore will be Wildomar's mayor for 2016.
She was nominated by Marsha Swanson, seconded by Tim Walker and received a 5-0 confirmation vote.
Mayor Pro-Tem (or Mayor Pretend as councilman Walker likes to call it) went to Walker. Nominated by Swanson and approved with a 5-0 vote.
2016 is going to be a busy year. There will sure to be many issues of interest coming before the council and it's going to be an election year too. If you care about your community, and have the time available, I hope you get more active in your city.
• • •
It's never too early to learn that the government is a greedy piglet that suckles on the taxpayer's teet until they have sore, chapped nipples
― Ron Swanson
Wildomar Rap tip of the day:If you've got something to say to me, try starting of with, "Hi, how are you?" I'm a sucker for that type of charm.
It's never too late to congratulate a new couple and new family. Wildomar Rap was waiting on the right picture to include, and the one below was well worth the wait as you can see.
On Saturday November 21st, Wildomar Mayor Ben Benoit and Jaimie Galliher White tied the knot in front of family and close friends, at the home of Supervisor Benoit’s house in Bermuda Dunes CA.
Abby, Ben, Nick and Jaimie.
Wildomar Rap would like to wish the happy couple/family a lifetime of happiness. We appreciate all the time you dedicate to the city.
• • •
Happy is the man who finds a true friend, and far happier is he who finds that true friend in his wife.
― Franz Schubert
Wildomar Rap tip of the day:Doing the dishes before being asked/told to is almost as good as back rub when trying to avoid a trip to Le Chateau Bow Wow.
"Wildomar Project Opponents Must Abide by Their Agreement and Cease Litigation Threats," Developer Sunbelt Communities Says in Lawsuit.
Some people, when they're no longer punching a clock, decide to pick up one hobby or another.
Jigsaw puzzles, crocheting, book clubs, traveling, mentoring, suing their local municipalities —or local developers— costing the residents of their towns many thousands of dollars in legal fees and staff costs, or future homeowners many thousands of dollars in needless costs hidden in the price.
Wildomar has several such accomplished geriatric litigants. They often make up cutesy names to take the brunt of the flak. Names like Alliance for Intelligent Planning (AIP pronounced APE) or Citizens for Quality Development.
Back in October it was reported that the city paid out $120,000 to the group that includes former Wildomar city council member Cheryl Ade, a person that still holds the sole distinction of being the only council member to be voted out of office in Wildomar. (Link to the blog about it)
That group has also had Gary Andre in it (he may still be in it, but it's hard to keep track of shadowy circles like that.) Suffice to say, if you'd like to play connect the dots I'll be happy to toss some dots out there for you.
Gary Andre, the man that filed as indigent the year before, shows up to a council meeting in a brand new, $27,000 Kia. Complete with a leather bra. (not him, the car)
Interesting dots, not sure if they connect or not, but I'll let the individual do their own sleuthing.
So why is this topical? Because he's part of another group... the one mentioned above: Citizens for Quality Development (better known as Crud).
That group has been trying to derail the 275-home Oak Creek Canyon residential housing project, which is just west of The Farm on Bundy Canyon Rd.
This project was the big news right before I started going to the city council meetings back in 2013. I didn't get to see a lot of the action as it unfolded. Yet, back in November of 2014, there was a settlement agreement between the developer and opponents of the approved 275-home Oak Creek Canyon residential housing project in Wildomar.
However, when you're dealing with Gary Andre things never go smoothly. There's always a hitch. If he's got your phone number he'll be calling you half a dozen times a day.
Today Sunbelt Communities issued a press release. Here's an excerpt.
Sunbelt Communities said it had no choice but to ask the California Superior Court to set aside requests by a group calling itself Citizens for Quality Development for inordinate additional soil testing in and around the development site. Sunbelt has already accommodated numerous requests from the opponents for project changes, including a payment of $60,000 to their lawyers.
“The motives behind the call for more unnecessary testing are obvious: additional legal fees for the opponents’ attorney, with no additional benefit for prospective homeowners of an already approved project,” said Larry Markham, a spokesperson for Sunbelt Communities.
“This has become a meaningless exercise spurred on by opponents’ repeated threats of litigation, and we have no choice but to ask the Court to put an end to it,” Markham said.
It's good to see the developers finally standing up to theses mindless lawsuits. Let's hope that the rest of them take a cue here and stop looking to settle with any of them from now on.
• • •
Recently I was referred to as a "sheeple" for "lumping together" all the various lawsuits that are going on in the city. Fine, though drawing that conclusion is akin to a child's crayola drawing being confused with the Mona Lisa.
I have no skin in the game when it comes to development in Wildomar. I have a house and if no more houses were built, it wouldn't affect me (isn't that part of the NIMBY mindset?) I'm not pro developer any more than I'm anti developer. I'm pro sanity, and that is a quality that seems lacking in the Lawsuit Lennys of Wildomar.
I don't come equipped with an agenda, and I think that confuses many people that know me. As long as you're a straight shooter, I can get along with you even if I don't agree with your views. For all that, if you are one of those that loves to repeatedly sue the city, then even if I happen to agree with some of your points I have minimal respect for you.
It's a shame really, because the right to sue city hall is a terrific privilege that we all enjoy and should guard well. When the system is abused, it gets people looking to curb their own rights just to stem the parade of garbage that gets pushed onto them.
• • •
Oh yeah, you completely disgraced yourself and almost destroyed an entire town!
At the last El Niño sandbag prep day (November 14th) a lot was learned about how to keep the lines short/moving, and it was incorporated into today's sandbag-a-thon.
Click to enlarge images.
First thing the city did differently is that they prepped 500 bags the night before. Second, the volunteers were there filling, lugging, sorting or loading bags in allotments of 5 rows by 5 columns (that's 25 for those a bit slow on the uptick) irrespective to the number of autos in line. Last time it seemed that bags were being filled as they were needed, but not this time. ☺
As you can see from the photos above, the first large pile of sand was completely eliminated before lunch. There was a very diligent group of workers (three donated by PV Maintenance) and volunteers. Most of the volunteers were from Elsinore High School, along with some parents and another student from David A Brown middle school. Others were from the local LDS church. I met one missionary whose home country is Costa Rica.
A different angle of the lines of pre-filled bags seen in the panoramic photo above.
When a truck, or car, arrived they checked in with CERT Member Paul Bakeman (had to make sure they were from Wildomar).
Then they would drive up to the appropriate group of bags, and volunteers... which included Wildomar Mayor Ben Benoit and Mayor Pro-Tem Bridgette Moore, would load the bags in under a minute. The latter worked WAY TOO HARD, *IMN2BHO, from before the opening bell to well past lunch when I skedaddled out of there.
Wildomar residents, the Dave Masters family, brought a couple of dozen sandwiches of various types, cookies, oranges and water bottles for the volunteers. Pretty cool indeed.
Starbucks coffee, waters and pizza (at lunch) were provided by the city. I was hearing chatter that there may be another of these sandbag events early next year —depending on how the unpredictable El Niño treats Wildomar.
By the time I left, with more than 3 hours left for bag pickup, more than 80 residents had taken advantage of this program.
*IMN2BHO (In My Never To Be Humble Opinion)
• • •
“You are what you do, not what you say you'll do.”
― C.G. Jung
Wildomar Raptip of the day:If you're 50 years old, stop pretending that your body can still do what it did when it was 30 years old.
There really wasn't much actual business in tonight's meeting. The agenda had a couple items that were approved by the county, before Wildomar became a city, that needed extensions. One being where the old Brown house was (Grand and McVicar) and the other on Monte Vista north of Cornerstone Church.
The red circle is where a traffic light is slated to go in.
The only thing noteworthy was the public comment by Gina Castanon, a resident that lives in the area. I've uploaded a video to her 6 minute diatribe, so you can see her points as the rest of those in attendance heard them... a handful even applauded.
Where do I start here?
Do I sympathize with Gina Castanon?
A bit. She was here when Wildomar had a population of under 5000 and she's seen 30,000 people move into what used to be a vacant area. Across from her used to be Rancho Fortunado, a place that used to have a practice track for race horses. That property was still up when I moved here in 2001.
It's been gone for well more than ten years now, and had been slated for housing tracts before The Great Recession. It laid fallow until somewhat recently and is now graded and ready for nearly 200 homes. The project that was in question tonight is west of her home, and will have 108 single family homes, on 35 acres, once it gets built.
People tend to exaggerate when they are passionate, and passionate she was. Here are the parts I had to shake my head at.
1:15 of the video she reminds the audience that she was part of the incorporation committee (WIN - Wildomar Incorporation Now).
Let me suggest to all of you that still have this high up on your Curriculum Vitae, please feel free to retire it. It's nice and all, but has very little meaning in the real world.
1:26 "This is the most rural area of Wildomar."
Ummm... errrr.... again with the worn out "rural" hooey? Really? There? Take a look at the map at the top of this blog and you'll see that this vacant field is actually out of character with the rest of this part of the city. There are rooftops everywhere but there.
2:35 "The other conditions I'm going to put on this project..."
I'll just chalk that one up to nervousness. She can't really think that she's in a position to dictate to others how their already approved project can be... can she?
4:30 "If you do go ahead and pass this extension, you better have some conditions on this project that they need to really work with this community. The city can't afford lawsuit after lawsuit because the planning commission doesn't get the job done."
Ouch... sounds kind of threatening to me.
4:50 "Why don't you work with the community, and the concerns we have, and maybe the lawsuits might go away."
Who says that the planning department, the commission or the council isn't "working with the community" here? Like it or not, the people that will be living to the south of you, and also to the west, are ALSO members of the community... or will be so, once the Bekins trucks unload them.
Their voices will be every bit as important as yours is. I truly love hearing the stories from people that have been in Wildomar for a long time, but the length of your tenure here has no value beyond being able to win at Wildomar Trivial Pursuit.
I've heard it said more than once before, from others that were on the vaunted WIN Committee that forming a city wasn't to prevent growth, but tohave a say in howthe city grows.
The response of the applicant begins at the 6:30 mark of the video. His opening sentence is as follows.
Sometimes this city gets sued unfairly. They get sued by a little cadre of people, who I will not name, but it costs many thousands of dollars to resolve these issues. CV Communities resolved these issues in favor of the city and their project. We are now resolving another issue with another woman who sued the city. Specious lawsuit at best, and we've given them two days to dismiss their case. We're through having the city be bullied.
This item passed by a vote of 4-1 with Commissioner Gary Brown dissenting. Once it was settled the applicant's team, about half a dozen professionals, left the council chambers. Not long after they made it out the glass doors Gina Castanon stormed out and a loud exchange could be heard coming from her aimed at the applicants. They wanted no part of it and headed for their cars.
• • •
The other bits on the agenda didn't have any opposition, being that one was another extension request approved 5-0 and the other were some minor changes to another long dormant project that is on the extreme southwest border of Wildomar and Murrieta.
Tonight was also the night that the Planning Commission chose the Chair and Vice Chair for next year. Usually the current vice chair slides over to Chair, but it looks as if Commissioner Dan Bidwell will be relocating next year. So current Chair, Veronica Langworthy, was nominated by Commissioner Stan Smith to keep the Chair for another year and it was seconded by Commissioner Gary Brown.
Gary Brown was tagged for the Vice Chair position.
• • •
The talent for being happy is appreciating and liking what you have, instead of what you don't have.
― Woody Allen
Wildomar Rap tip of the day: if you're one that wants to angle for flies, remember honey is a better bait than is vinegar. Since most of us aren't interested in catching flies in the 21st century let me restate it.If you want something, try sweetness. No one likes to be wooed with lemon juice.
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